Docs

The song editor

Arrange mode

Reorder, duplicate and delete whole lines of a song without editing the words.

Arrange mode turns your lyrics into a checklist. Instead of a cursor and a keyboard you get a checkbox on every line, and a row of actions that move those lines around.

It is for structure. Use it when the words are right but they are in the wrong order, or when a verse needs to become two.

Getting in and out#

The grid button at the bottom right of the editor opens it. The same button turns into a house, and tapping that takes you back to writing.

Arrange mode, with checkboxes on every line and two lines of the first verse selected 1234
  1. 1Tap a line to select it
  2. 2Tap a section header and the whole stanza comes with it
  3. 3The house takes you back to writing
  4. 4The actions stay greyed until something is selected
Arrange mode with two lines picked out of the first verse.

Selecting#

Tap any line to select it, and tap it again to let it go. The count in the middle of the bottom bar tells you how many you have.

Press and drag down the column of checkboxes and every line you pass is selected. It is much faster than tapping a run of lines one at a time, and it is the fastest way to take a block that does not line up with a section.

Arrange mode with three consecutive lines of the first verse ticked, selected in one drag down the checkbox column 1
  1. 1Drag down this column
Three lines in one gesture. Drag back up over them to let them go again.

Tapping a section header selects that header and every line under it. That is the quick way to move a whole chorus, and it is the thing most people do not discover on their own.

Select All takes the entire song, and becomes Deselect All once everything is picked.

Dragging a single line#

Press and drag a line anywhere except its checkbox and you pick that line up and drop it somewhere else. It is the direct way to move one line, without selecting anything or using the arrows.

What you can do with a selection#

Action What it does
Move Up, Move Down Shifts the selected lines one position. Greyed out at the top and bottom, because there is nowhere further to go.
Duplicate Copies the selection in directly below itself. The fast way to turn one chorus into two.
Delete Removes the selected lines. It asks first.
Copy To Scratchpad Sends a copy to the Scratchpad and leaves the song alone.

On a shared song#

A song with co-writers gains three more actions, all about moving lines between people rather than around the page.

Action Where it sends the lines
Send to Me From a co-writer's tab into your own. Only appears when you are looking at someone else's tab.
Send to Collaborator From your tab to a co-writer you pick.
Send to Master Into the agreed version of the song.

These belong to the collaboration side of the app and are covered in that section of these docs.

Empty states#

Arrange mode needs something to arrange. If the tab is empty it says No lyrics to arrange, and on a co-writer's empty tab it tells you they have not written anything yet.

Blank lines show as (empty line) rather than an unlabelled gap, so you can select and delete the spacing as well as the words.

Not the same as selecting text#

Both involve picking lines, and they do different jobs.

  • Selecting text points a writing tool at your words. See Selecting and editing lines.
  • Arrange mode moves your words without changing a character of them.

If you want a line rewritten, select the text. If you want it somewhere else, use Arrange mode.